Summer Days in Winter Time....

The weather this weekend has just been fabulous. Warm and sunny, blue sky perfection. So Karen, Todd, & I decided to spend the afternoon at the park with all the kids. It was even warm enough for popsicles. Yum! It's funny though... this park has so much land that is NOT part of the playground and those areas seem to be the ones that attract the kids the most. Sure, they spent some time on the swings and slide but much less so than the time spent wrestling in the grass, climbing on the boulders, going on mini hikes, and even dancing on the tables! Whenever Emma gets with all her cousins I rarely hear the dreaded words "I'm bored." Instead, they all seem to make their own fun despite the wide age range. It was a great afternoon.

Dino Days!

We met up with Sophia and Baron and their Mommies this morning to build at Lowes. The kids all got to create dinosaurs. I think Emma & Baron liked running around and roaring at each other best of all. Those 2 are definitely a handful when they get together!

Whale Watching, Take 1

Last summer I found us a really good deal on a whale watching trip. It was half price for adults and free for the little ones since they were, well, little. But time got away from us, as usual, and all of a sudden the vouchers were about to expire. So we headed out this weekend with our friends to check it out. Mom & Al were supposed to join us as well, but neither of them were feeling well. So it was just us and our friends. The weather has been poor this week but, luckily, the rain stopped while we were out. But the seas were still choppy and, after barely making it out of the bay, the captain of the boat decided that the waters were too rough and he turned us back around. We did see some seals in the harbor, and we all got free vouchers to come back another day, so it wasn't a total waste. We then decided to still make a day of it and rode the ferry over to Balboa Island for lunch. We finished up the afternoon by letting the kids splash in the waves. It was sooo cold, but they all had fun. Then we changed their clothes, bundled them up under blankets in their boosters and headed home just as the rain started up again. Perfect timing.

Brrrr.....

Being that we had today off from work, Karen & I decided to take the kids up to the park by Mom & Al's house to have a picnic with Grandma. Tim was up there doing some work too and had Bubby there helping him, so he joined us too. It was sooooo cold though! The kids were bundled up, but it sure was chilly today. We still played for an hour or so though.

Happy 12th Birthday Mikayla!

Mikayla turned 12 years old last week. Can you believe it? Time is going way too fast around here. She asked for a skating party again this year and it was a lot of fun! As far as the little ones, TJ did much better this year - probably because his father backed off and actually let him skate without hovering as much. Emma, on the other hand, actually did better skating LAST year. Lil weirdo. She is just more scared of things lately and she was so worried that she was going to fall out on the rink. She did well on the carpet though and also really enjoyed dancing to the music. In fact, at one point she and I were out skating on the rink and a certain song started. Emma freaked out and started telling me that she needed to get her skates off NOW. I thought something might be hurting her so I rushed her too the side and quickly undid her skates. Once she was in her stocking feet I asked what was wrong. Her response, I kid you not, was "Mom! I can't shuffle in skates!" and she took off shuffling down the carpet! Goofy kid!

Back to the Grindstone

Emma and I have had a WONDERFUL 3 and a half weeks off for Christmas break but, alas, all good things must come to an end. I had some concerns about how this morning would go since Emma has been on "vacation mode" for quite a while and sleeping in till almost 8 every morning. But she is always my trouper and was up at 6 am with barely a complaint. So its back to work and school we go today. And the best part is that we have a 3-day-weekend next weekend! The promise of an extra day off coming up always helps to get us through the week. :)

Mikayla made the team!

We are so proud of Mikayla around here. She went out for the school basketball team... and she made the cut! Very cool, especially for her first year of middle school.